Spat over Indonesian Open purse nearing conclusion
Spat over Indonesian Open purse nearing conclusion
Agencies, Shanghai
A dispute over the tardy payment of prize money to players at last month's Indonesian Open appeared to be nearing an end on Tuesday, with the European Tour saying the rest of the money would be handed over by the end of this week.
Players were reportedly furious after Parallel Media Group (PMG), the promoters of the tournament which was jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, allegedly failed to pay the full amount of money.
However, George O'Grady, executive director of the European Tour, said in a statement released by PMG that the remainder of the prize money would be handed over by the end of this week.
"The European Tour has received 65 percent of the ... prize fund and we are expecting PMG to pay the remainder this week. Thereafter the players will be paid immediately," AFP quoted him as saying.
Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant, winner of the March 24-27 US$1 million tournament in Jakarta, is reportedly among those still awaiting payment.
Louis Martin, chief executive of the Asian Tour, was critical of the problem.
"It is absolutely mindblowing," he said ahead of Thursday's start of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.
"For us at the Asian Tour, this has been totally unacceptable. It has been five weeks since the tournament, and players are coming up to me asking when they will get their money.
"Prize money is sacrosanct. You either pay all the players or none. You can't just hand over 65 percent or whatever the amount they say they've done.
"We can't differentiate between the winner and 72nd place. They all did their job and they all should have been paid."
PMG, who claim to be the biggest promoters of professional golf in Asia, said in a statement released on Monday that the payment of the prize purse was according to an agreement they made with the European Tour.
In the statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post, PMB said: "... the prize-purse for the Indonesian Open adheres to the agreement that exists between themselves and the European Tour. This states that the prize-purse will be transferred to the European Tour according to an agreed scheduled".
Keld Kristiansen, managing director of PMG Asia, was quoted as saying: "(PMG is) fully committed to the building and development of a successful golf tour in Asia, which will continue to benefit players, sponsors and spectators alike ... We have always honored our payments, and Indonesia is no different."